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Money in the Bank (2018)
Money in the Bank (2018) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event, produced by WWE for their Raw and SmackDown brands. It took place on June 17, 2018, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. It was the ninth event under the Money in the Bank chronology. The card comprised eleven matches, including one match on the pre-show. In the main event, Braun Strowman won the men's Money in the Bank ladder match, while Alexa Bliss won the women's Money in the Bank ladder match. Bliss cashed in her contract later in the night to win the Raw Women's Championship from Nia Jax after causing a disqualification in the previous title match between Ronda Rousey and Jax. On the undercard, AJ Styles retained the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura in a Last Man Standing match, and Carmella retained the SmackDown Women's Championship against Asuka with help from the returning James Ellsworth. The event was critically panned, some labeling it as one of the worst WWE PPVs ever. Big Cass who walked out on WWE the day after the PPV and despite his contract expired two days later and subsequently signed a contract to compete in the Big Time Wrestling. Production Background WWE's Money in the Bank pay-per-view event centers around a match of the same name, in which multiple wrestlers use ladders to retrieve a briefcase hanging above the ring. The briefcase contains a contract that guarantees the winner a match for a world championship at any time within the next year. The contracts for 2018 specifically granted the male and female winners a match for the world championship of their respective brand. The 2018 event included two ladder matches, one for male wrestlers and one for females, each having eight participants, evenly divided between the Raw and SmackDown brands. Male wrestlers competed for a contract to grant them a match for either Raw's Universal Championship or SmackDown's WWE Championship, while female wrestlers competed for a contract to grant them a match for either the Raw Women's Championship or SmackDown Women's Championship. Storylines The card originally comprised ten matches, including one on the pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live. Raw Qualification matches for the men's ladder match began on May 7 on Raw. Braun Strowman defeated Kevin Owens to qualify, while Finn Bálor qualified by defeating Sami Zayn and Roman Reigns in a triple threat match, after Jinder Mahal interfered and attacked Reigns. The following week, further triple threat matches yielded two more participants: Bobby Roode defeated Baron Corbin and No Way Jose, while Owens (standing in for Mahal, who had been injured by Reigns) defeated Elias and Bobby Lashley after Zayn interfered and attacked Lashley. Qualification matches for the women's ladder match also began on May 7, with Ember Moon defeating Sasha Banks and Ruby Riott in a triple threat match to qualify. The following week, Alexa Bliss defeated Bayley and Mickie James in a triple threat match to qualify. The following week, Natalya defeated Sarah Logan, Liv Morgan, and Dana Brooke in a fatal four-way match to qualify. The final qualification match occurred on the May 28 episode of Raw, where Banks defeated Bayley, Brooke, James, Logan, Morgan, and Riott in a seven-woman gauntlet match to earn the final spot. During the NBCUniversal Upfront event on May 14, Ronda Rousey was interviewed by Cathy Kelley. Raw Women's Champion Nia Jax interrupted the interview and challenged Rousey to a match at Money in the Bank, putting her title on the line. Rousey accepted the challenge. The following week, both Rousey and Jax signed the contract for their match. The following week, Jax demonstrated on an amateur wrestler that she would counter Rousey's armbar and perform a powerbomb. On the May 7 episode of Raw, Jinder Mahal cost Roman Reigns a chance to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match. The following week, Reigns attacked Mahal backstage and speared him through a wall. On the May 21 episode of Raw, after Reigns and Seth Rollins defeated Mahal and Kevin Owens, Mahal attacked Reigns with a chair. A match between the two was scheduled for Money in the Bank. During a tag team match on the April 23 episode of Raw, Bobby Lashley performed a one-handed suspended vertical suplex on Sami Zayn, which Zayn claimed gave him vertigo and why he missed the Greatest Royal Rumble. At Backlash, Lashley and Braun Strowman defeated Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. During an interview on the May 7 episode, Lashley spoke dearly about his family, including his three sisters. In response, Zayn said that Lashley was not a nice guy and promised to bring out Lashley's sisters to tell the truth. On the May 21 episode, three men dressed up as Lashley's sisters accused Lashley of violence. Lashley interrupted the segment and attacked the imposters along with Zayn. The following week, a match between the two was made for Money in the Bank. On the May 28 episode of Raw, Seth Rollins interrupted Elias, who was once again trying to sing for the crowd, and forced him to leave. After Rollins's match, Elias smashed a guitar on his back. On May 31, a match between the two for the Intercontinental Championship was made for Money in the Bank. SmackDown Qualifications for the men's ladder match continued on SmackDown on May 8. The Miz and Rusev qualified for the match by defeating Jeff Hardy and Daniel Bryan, respectively. The following week, Big E and Xavier Woods of The New Day defeated Cesaro and Sheamus in a tag team match, allowing one member of New Day to qualify. Samoa Joe secured the final spot by defeating Big Cass and Daniel Bryan in a triple threat match on the May 29 episode of SmackDown. Qualifications for the women's ladder match also continued on the May 8 episode, with Charlotte Flair qualified over Peyton Royce. The following week, Becky Lynch defeated Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville in a triple threat match to qualify. On the May 15 episode, Lana and Naomi qualified for the match by defeating Billie Kay and Deville, respectively. At WrestleMania 34, AJ Styles defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the WWE Championship. After the match, Nakamura attacked Styles with a low blow, turning heel in the process. The two continued to feud through Greatest Royal Rumble and Backlash with their matches ending in draws. SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahonscheduled a fourth match for Money in the Bank and promised there would a decisive winner. On the May 15 episode of SmackDown, Nakamura earned the right to choose a stipulation for the match by defeating Styles. The following week, Nakamura attacked Styles with a Kinshasa at ringside and chose a Last Man Standing match. Big Cass and Daniel Bryan had begun feuding after Cass returned from injury during the 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up. Cass had attacked Bryan on SmackDown and eliminated him from the Greatest Royal Rumble match. Bryan then defeated Cass at Backlash, but was attacked by his opponent after the match. Bryan returned the favor on the May 15 episode of SmackDown and a house show in Germany. By injuring Cass' leg, Bryan not only cost him his spot in an upcoming Money in the Bank qualifying match against Samoa Joe, but secured that spot for himself by defeating Jeff Hardy on the May 22 episode of SmackDown. However, when Cass returned from injury in time, the match was turned into the aforementioned triple threat match, won by Joe. After the match, Cass attacked Bryan again. On June 2, another match between the two was made for Money in the Bank. On the May 15 episode of SmackDown, SmackDown Women's Champion Carmella celebrated her championship reign. SmackDown General Manager Paige interrupted Carmella and scheduled a title match between her and Asuka for Money in the Bank. On the May 22 episode of SmackDown, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson defeated The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) to become the number one contenders to face The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at Money in the Bank. The match was scheduled for the Money in the Bank pre-show. Aftermath After Money in the Bank, Lashley defeated Sami Zayn for his first successful defense; however, Zayn suffered an rotator cuffs getting his surgery to repair both of them. After the event, Cass did not appear and was not mentioned on SmackDown the next day during the live audience. The website of WWE.com stopped advertising Cass for future events. It was reported by the Sports Illustrated that on Monday, Cass had legitimately behavioral issues and walked out on WWE when he informed Vince McMahon that he was "going home". Cass WWE contract subsequently expired on June 19, thus making this event of his final on-screen appearance. Results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * Money in the Bank Category:Money In The Bank PPV Category:Pay-Per-Views